Several oil field workers arrested in Ramree Twsp

By Admin 21 Jul 2023

DMG Newsroom
21 July 2023, Ramree

Thirteen oil field workers have been arrested near Tawlaw Village in Ward-4, Lay Taung town, part of Arakan State’s Ramree Township, according to residents.

Junta police and soldiers arrived at an oil well on July 19 and reportedly forced oil field workers to stop digging without permission from the local government.

Thirteen oil field workers were detained on July 20 when they went to Ramree police station to sign a pledge that they would not dig oil wells in future, said a resident of Lay Taung town, who did not want to be named.

“Thirteen oil field workers were arrested after being summoned by the local police station. There are no additional circumstances regarding their arrest,” the Lay Taung resident added.

The detained oil field workers are from Sagaing and Magwe regions, and their whereabouts remain unknown.

“The township police reportedly took 13 oil field workers, but I don’t know details,” said U Kyaw Naing, an administrator of Lay Taung town.

Approximately 100 oil field workers from Sagaing and Magwe regions are prospecting for oil in Lay Taung town. They started digging in January on a trial basis, and around 50 oil wells have been dug so far. Some wells are now producing, with oil typically found between 600 and 1,000 feet underground. Often, however, the prospectors in Lay Taung town lack the machinery and technology to dig to an optimal depth.

Oil field workers say it costs around K15 million to drill an oil well at the market price, and the arrest made the loss even greater when the oil wells were not producing.

“Rather than arrest, they [the police] should negotiate. If oil drilling is illegal, how can they make it legal? If the oil exploration is successful, it should be allowed because it can create many jobs in the area,” said a source close to one of the detained oil field workers.

DMG contacted Arakan State military council member and Minister of Natural Resources U Than Tun to find out what would be done about the matter, but did not receive a response as he was busy attending a meeting.

More than 30 years ago, there were traditional oil drilling operations near the current oil test drilling site, and now oil field workers are testing oil with earthmoving machines. If successful, the new oil fields will provide jobs for locals, but there are also concerns about the potential environmental impacts.

In the past, small-scale oil drilling thrived in Arakan State’s Kyaukphyu Township, but production significantly declined after a China-backed oil and gas project was launched there.